His Faith?

In Hebrews 11:1 we are told, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”[1] We are also told in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” [2] The Bible is filled with statements regarding faith, but am I required to accept these statements without any supporting evidence? Many opponents to Christianity criticize what they call our blind faith as being foolish and meaningless, without any basis in fact. But is there evidence to support the claims of Christianity? I believe there is.

At this point I could begin the defense of my faith by quoting a litany of scripture passages to support my beliefs, but that would be considered by a skeptic to be an attempt to use the Bible to prove itself. Instead, my method is to contemplate the work of scholars[3] that have done the difficult task of researching historic texts (since in nearly every field of study we are dependent on the research of others) and consider “only those data that are so strongly attested historically that they are granted by nearly every scholar who studies the subject, even the rather skeptical ones.”[4] And while it is not the consensus of scholarship that is our goal, rather it is the consensus that helps point us to the data we need to make an informed discovery. We need to be “drawn to the sources and eager to learn what might be knowable, and with what reliability, about Jesus from Nazareth.”[5] For example, this is some of the data a majority of scholars affirm:[6]

1. Jesus died by crucifixion. This is confirmed in at least five non-Biblical sources (multiple, independent attestation.)
2. The disciples of Jesus believe he rose from the dead and appeared to them. This is confirmed in nine early and independent sources.
3. The church persecutor Paul was suddenly changed. Again, confirmed by early, multiple and first-hand information and accepted by recent scholarship.
4. The skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed. This is documented by Josephus and other early sources.
5. The tomb of Jesus was found empty. “Roughly 75 percent of scholars on the subject accept the empty tomb as a historical fact.”[7]

At this point, I can begin to look to the New Testament for supporting documentation – not as the divinely inspired book I believe it is, but simply as containing reliable historic data. With one criteria of acceptance of the New Testament by the early church being that proposed documents were written within living memory of the events they record, many serious scholars do not discount the validity of the New Testament simply because it is a religious document, but rather accept the bias they know it contains and consider much of it to be valid historic source material.[8]

Therefore, taking the above paragraphs into consideration, we read where Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 that there is one event he considers to be pivotal within Christianity – that the resurrection of the crucified Jesus actually took place. He wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”[9] In verses 3b-7 of the same chapter, Paul writes for us what most scholars think to be the earliest Christian tradition available. Most date this creed (verses 3b-5) to within 5 years of the resurrection[10] with some (skeptics included) placing it as early as AD 30.[11] Verses 6 & 7 are considered by some to be a part of the same creed – and by others to be equally important Christian tradition from the same date. Here is the creed:

3b. that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5. and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

6. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still            alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [12]

In 1921, skeptic Cavendish Moxon wrote, “The Christian Creeds are rich in symbols of primitive unconscious desires. The Creeds therefore make a direct appeal to the unsatisfied and repressed persons who desire a refuge from the world as it is. They offer a comforting metaphysic for the mind and a strong support for the will, in other words, revelation and salvation. The revelation is not to be denied, but it is a revelation of the men who made the Creeds…”[13] But the historic documentation points to the 1 Corinthians creed as being a reporting of the resurrection they believed happened – not the wishful thinking of Christ’s followers. The authors of the New Testament have given us both primary and secondary documentation of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. They did this at the peril of persecution and death – at the cost of embarrassing testimony about themselves – offering testimony that ran contradictory to their own understanding and culture – yet with great confidence that the events to which they were eyewitnesses (or recording eyewitness reports) had eternal importance.

In conclusion, my faith is in Christ. But it is through the information contained in the Bible – Old and New Testaments that direct me to that faith. But the resurrection is the key to our understanding. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have faith in the existence of God. Because of the resurrection, I have faith in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Because of the resurrection, I have faith in the validity of both the Old Testament scripture that points us to Christ and the New Testament that shows us Christ. Finally, because of the resurrection I know that the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross was acceptable to satisfy the wrath of a holy and just God. John wrote in his gospel that “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”[14] With the wealth of documentation that is available to us, a faith in Christ is anything but blind faith. Yet:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.[15]

Notes:
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Heb 11:1). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[2] ibid (Eph 2:8).
[3] Dr. John Dickson considers “mainstream scholarship” to be the 80% of peer reviewed scholarship in the middle of a continuum where 10% of skeptics on one end and 10% of apologists on the other market sensational material directly to the arena of public opinion rather than being juried by their peers.
[4] Gary R. Habermas;Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Kindle Locations 340-341). Kindle Edition.
[5] Charlesworth, James H. (2008-01-01). The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide (Essential Guides) (p. 16). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
[6] Habermas, Gary R. 2005. "RESURRECTION RESEARCH FROM 1975 TO THE PRESENT: WHAT ARE CRITICAL SCHOLARS SAYING?." Journal For The Study Of The Historical Jesus 3, no. 2: 135-153. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed January 7, 2014).
[7] Gary R. Habermas;Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Kindle Location 619). Kindle Edition.
[8] Dickson, John (2010-12-21). The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know about Jesus (Kindle Locations 546-547). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
[9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (1 Co 15:14). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[10] Gary R. Habermas; Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Kindle Locations 488-490). Kindle Edition.
[11] Walter Kaspar, Jesus the Christ, new ed., trans. V. Green (Mahweh: Paulist, 1976), 125.
[12]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (1 Co 15:3–7). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[13] MOXON, CAVENDISH. "A Psycho-Analytic Study of the Christian Creed." The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 2 (Jan 01, 1921): 54, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1298177581?accountid=12085.
[14]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Jn 20:31). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[15] Words: Edward Mote, circa 1834; first appeared in Mote’s Hymns of Praise, 1836.
Music: Solid Rock, William B. Bradbury, 1863

Bibliography

Siniscalchi, G. (2012), Early Christian Worship and the Historical Argument for Jesus’ Resurrection. New Blackfriars, 93: 710–732. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2005.2011.01447.x

Dialog: A Journal of Theology, Vol. 45; No. 3 (Fall, 2006), pp. 288-297; published by Blackwell Publishing, UK.

Dickson, John (2010-12-21). The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know about Jesus. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Gary R. Habermas; Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Kindle Edition.

Walter Kaspar, Jesus the Christ, new ed., trans. V. Green (Mahweh: Paulist, 1976).

Moxon, Cavendish. "A Psycho-Analytic Study of the Christian Creed." The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 2 (Jan 01, 1921): 54, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1298177581?accountid=12085.

Charlesworth, James H. (2008-01-01). The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide (Essential Guides) Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

Habermas, Gary R. 2005. "RESURRECTION RESEARCH FROM 1975 TO THE PRESENT: WHAT ARE CRITICAL SCHOLARS SAYING?." Journal For The Study Of The Historical Jesus 3, no. 2: 135-153. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed January 7, 2014).

Craig, William Lane (2008-07-23). Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. Good News Publishers. Kindle Edition